BLT (Bankruptcy Lawyer Topics) is a periodic review and comparison of consumer bankruptcy topics being covered on bankruptcy lawyer blogs.

Holding a J.D. and an International Affairs M.A. from Marquette University, Matt Leichter (matt [dot] leichter [at] gmail [dot] com) is an attorney licensed in Wisconsin and New York.  He speaks Japanese and focuses on comparative and international law, as well as international business.

• Click on BK Lawyer Blogs for a state-by-state list of bankruptcy lawyers with their own blogs.
• Have a blog or know a good blog post you think should be included? Or a suggestion for a future BLT theme?  Send an e-mail to BLT [at] bankruptcybill [dot] us with the link.
• Suggestion to bankruptcy lawyers with blogs: Make sure to include a “Search” function somewhere on your blog.  It makes it easier to find topical posts on your blog and increases the likelihood that a post from your blog will be included in BLT.

GENERAL or NON-STATE SPECIFIC

American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) Bankruptcy Blog Exchange

• HAMP Mortgage Modification and Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
• HAMP Notes

Beat The Press (Dean Baker, Center for Economic Policy Research)

• Money for Failed Modifications Goes to Banks, Not Homeowners

CreditSlips.org

• Redemption (of the 722 variety) for Struggling Homeowners
• Today’s Consumers Prefer Chapter 7 Bankruptcy 3 to 1

Consumer Law & Policy Blog

• Mortgage Crisis Update: Treasury Tinkers with Failed HAMP Program, Delinquencies and Foreclosures Stubbornly Refuse to Go Away
• Latest HAMP Report: Treasury Program a Failure

***SEE MORE BLOG POSTS FROM BANKRUPTCY LAWYERS AROUND THE U.S.*** (more…)

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Bankruptcy Billables is an overview of bankruptcy-relevant coverage and discussion from various law-related blogs.

Holding a J.D. and an International Affairs M.A. from Marquette University, Matt Leichter (matt [dot] leichter [at] gmail [dot] com) is an attorney licensed in Wisconsin and New York.  He speaks Japanese and focuses on comparative and international law, as well as international business.

Law Shucks

• 6 Things You Didn’t Know About the Bankruptcy Lawyers of the Decade

Point of Law

• Group: Bankrupt Chemical Maker Owes another $9 Billion

WSJ Bankruptcy Beat

• Rothstein’s Business Partner Files For Chapter 7
• Denny Hecker Held Responsible For $400 Million
• Petters Sentenced To 50 Years Behind Bars
• Chapter 11 Can Be Fun, Hot
• Dykstra Strikes Out In Bid To End Bankruptcy Case
• Gemstone Shopping Channel Enters Chapter 11
• Arby’s Franchisee Serves Up Chapter 11 Filing
• The Daily Docket: Rock & Republic Files For Bankruptcy
• Harrisburg, PA, May Miss Debt Payment
• Maker of Collapsed Cowboys’ Dome Seeks Creditor Protection
• For Mortgage Industry, It’s Win Some, Lose Some

Above the Law

• Career Center: Practice Area Survey and Results

Credit Slips

• The Rhetoric of “Ending” Too Big To Fail
• Experian and FreeCreditReport.com Sink to a New Low
• The Congressional Research Service Says No Real Effect from BAPCPA
• Repo Madness
• The Business of Document Production
• March Bankruptcy Filings Are Up But Not “Spiking”
• The Fed as Distressed Investor
• The Need for More Bankruptcy Knowledge on the Circuit Courts
• Redemption (of the 722 variety) for Struggling Homeowners

Going Concern

• SEC Might Bring Civil Charges Against Ernst & Young Soon, Maybe
• After Constant Lehman/Ernst & Young Press Coverage, the PCAOB Is Ready to Get Serious About Audit Committee Communication

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BLT (Bankruptcy Lawyer Topics) is a periodic review and comparison of consumer bankruptcy topics being covered on bankruptcy lawyer blogs.

Holding a J.D. and an International Affairs M.A. from Marquette University, Matt Leichter (matt [dot] leichter [at] gmail [dot] com) is an attorney licensed in Wisconsin and New York.  He speaks Japanese and focuses on comparative and international law, as well as international business.

• Click on BK Lawyer Blogs for a state-by-state list of bankruptcy lawyers with their own blogs.
• Have a blog or know a good blog post you think should be included? Or a suggestion for a future BLT theme?  Send an e-mail to BLT [at] bankruptcybill [dot] us with the link.
• Suggestion to bankruptcy lawyers with blogs: Make sure to include a “Search” function somewhere on your blog.  It makes it easier to find topical posts on your blog and increases the likelihood that a post from your blog will be included in BLT.

GENERAL or NON-STATE SPECIFIC

American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) Bankruptcy Blog Exchange

• LifeLock Fined for Inappropriate Identity Theft Protection Claims
• FTC: Identity Theft Top Complaint in 2009; Potential Data Breach
• Financial News This Week: More Consumer Protection
• Medical Records in Bankruptcy Court
• Is Texting ‘HAITI’ to 90999 A Scam?
• Bankruptcy More A Girl Thing

Bankruptcy Law Network

• Protect Your Privacy in Bankruptcy – Redact!
• Better Business Bureau and Identity Theft Prevention—Not Just An Agency to Call to Complain
• Beware of Fake Debt Collectors
• Online Pay Lenders: The Next Wave of Identity Theft?
• My Social Security Number Is Protected During Bankruptcy, Right?
• Identity Theft Involving Children’s Social Security Numbers

***SEE MORE BLOG POSTS FROM BANKRUPTCY LAWYERS AROUND THE U.S.*** (more…)

New Feature: The Bankruptcy Word looks at the etymology of bankruptcy terms.  Matthew Knox is a first year associate in the bankruptcy section of Adair & Myers, PLLC, in Houston, Texas and enjoys learning about the exciting and storied world of bankruptcy. He can be reached at mak@am-law.com.

“Bankruptcy”

Where does the word itself come from? The textbook we used in my bankruptcy class in law school glossed over its origins in a way that hinted at mystery and controversy:

“[W]hether or not ‘bankruptcy’ derives from the Italian banca rotta or ‘broken [merchant's] table’… the clearest origins of United States bankruptcy law are to be found in England.”  (The Law of Debtors and Creditors, p. 107, 5th Ed. 2006, by current chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel and two-time Daily Show guest Elizabeth Warren, and Jay Lawrence Westbrook.)

Broken merchant’s table? Wait, what?

The story is that:

“In medieval Europe, a merchant who was unable to pay his bills was dealt with harshly: his creditors would (more…)

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Bankruptcy Man continues his epic battle against the ominous and powerful Mortgantua. Click here for a refresher on ongoing the BAPCPA Man vs Mortgantua saga.

• Click here for an informative post titled “Reflections on Bootcamp“ by bankruptcy lawyer Andy Winchell on his Clean Slate blog.
• Also, in the Wall Street Journal’s Bankruptcy Beat Blog there’s an article on the most influential bankruptcy lawyers of the decade and an interesting comment by bankruptcy lawyer John Cantrell questioning the lack of inclusion of O. Max Gardner on the list.

For more information on Max Gardner’s Bankruptcy Bootcamp, go to MaxBankruptcyBootcamp.com.  Click here to see the ABC News Nightline feature on Max Gardner’s Bankruptcy Bootcamp.  And click here to see the Wikipedia entry on Max’s eponymous grandfather who served a term as governor of North Carolina from 1929-33.

For additional information on mortgage and foreclosure, here are a few blog posts:

Bruce Weiner (Rosenberg Musso & Weiner) – NYBankruptcyNet (Brooklyn, NY)

• No Mortgage Cramdown Bill for Christmas

Haines & Krieger (Las Vegas, NV)

• Haines & Krieger’s Las Vegas Foreclosure Round-up
• Capitalism, bankruptcy, foreclosure and hell

Eugene Melchionne, Esq. – ConsumerBankruptcyTips.com (Waterbury, CT)

• Attorney Melchionne featured in NYTimes article on family’s fight against foreclosure in Connecticut

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Bankruptcy Billables is an overview of bankruptcy-relevant coverage and discussion from various law-related blogs.

Holding a J.D. and an International Affairs M.A. from Marquette University, Matt Leichter (matt [dot] leichter [at] gmail [dot] com) is an attorney licensed in Wisconsin and New York.  He speaks Japanese and focuses on comparative and international law, as well as international business.

Above the Law

• Supreme Court Tackles Student Loan Debt
• Breaking: Ninth Circuit Stiffs Anna Nicole Smith’s Estate

Going Concern

• Accounting News Roundup: Dodd Requests Investigation of Lehman “Accounting Manipulation”; Ernst & Young Makes Case to Audit Committee Members; House Passes Health Care Reform | 03.22.10
• Ernst & Young Looking at More Civil and Criminal Liability for Lehman Failure
• Ernst & Young: Talking Points on Lehman Brothers

Credit Slips

• Ambac & the Safe Harbors
• Credit Bidding
• Today’s Consumers Prefer Chapter 7 Bankruptcy 3 to 1
• Consumer Protection & Bank Soundness
• The Financial Stability Oversight Council
• Financial Consumer Protection—The Last Thing We Need Is Federal Banking Oversight
• Debt and the People, Part II: The Hot…and Concluding Disquietudes [Read Part I here]

WSJ Bankruptcy Beat

• Trustee Slams Dykstra’s Bid to Exit Bankruptcy
• The Daily Docket: Bankruptcy for Ambac?
• The Daily Docket: Lehman Seeks Investment Partner
• Salon Files for Bankruptcy on Eve of Owner’s Trial
• Chrysler Seeks American Motors Retirees
• The Daily Docket: VP Warned Lehman Execs
• Hecker Accused of Ransacking Family’s Trust Funds
• Visteon Shares Soar on…Well, Anyway, They Soar
• Maker of Green Products Seeks to Recycle Its Debt
• The Daily Docket: Bankruptcy for Blockbuster?

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BLT (Bankruptcy Lawyer Topics) is a periodic review and comparison of consumer bankruptcy topics being covered on bankruptcy lawyer blogs.

Holding a J.D. and an International Affairs M.A. from Marquette University, Matt Leichter (matt [dot] leichter [at] gmail [dot] com) is a Brooklyn-based attorney licensed in Wisconsin and New York.  He speaks Japanese and focuses on comparative and international law, as well as international business.

• Click on BK Lawyer Blogs for a state-by-state list of bankruptcy lawyers with their own blogs.
• Have a blog or know a good blog post you think should be included? Or a suggestion for a future BLT theme?  Send an e-mail to BLT [at] bankruptcybill [dot] us with the link.

Suggestion to bankruptcy lawyers with blogs: Make sure to include a “Search” function somewhere on your blog.  It makes it easier to find topical posts on your blog and increases the likelihood that a post from your blog will be included in BLT.

GENERAL or NON-STATE SPECIFIC

American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) Bankruptcy Blog Exchange

• A Closer Look at the Orleans Homebuilders Bankruptcy [via Delaware Bankruptcy Litigation]
• Hecker’s Troubles Signed, Unsealed, Delivered [via Bankruptcy Beat]
• Prosecutors Bring Bankruptcy Fraud Charges Against Hecker [via Bankruptcy Beat]
• Drama Continues for Death Row [via Bankruptcy Beat]
• The Daily Docket: Freedom Wins OK on Chapter 11 Plan [via Bankruptcy Beat]

ARIZONA

Brian Dault, Esq. (Dault & Associates PLLC) – Phoenix Bankruptcy Lawyer Blog (Chandler, AZ)

• College Football Star Files Bankruptcy, Surrenders Championship Ring

***SEE MORE BLOG POSTS FROM BANKRUPTCY LAWYERS AROUND THE U.S.*** (more…)

At long last, we’re ready to announce the winner and runner-up of Bankruptcy Bill’s Bankruptcy Song Contest!

Thanks to everyone who submitted an bankruptcy song, to everyone who voted and shared their comments and to illustrator Gideon Kendall for suggesting the cartoon announcement prize idea.

Also thanks to our sponsors for their support of the first-ever (to our knowledge) Bankruptcy Song Contest and for collectively making a donation to the National Consumer Law Center in the amount of $25 for each song submitted (for which we received a nice thank you note from the NCLC’s Executive Director):

• Bruce Weiner (Rosenberg Musso & Weiner) – NYBankruptcyNet (Brooklyn, NY)
• George Haines & David Krieger (Haines & Krieger) (Las Vegas, NV)
• Russell A. Demott – Charleston Bankruptcy Blog (Charleston, SC)
• Nancy Rapoport (nancyrapoport.blogspot.com), the Gordon Silver Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law (UNLV)

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2nd Place

Congratulations also to Arlene Robins of Woodbury, NY for her wonderful submission “BANKRUPTCY WIFE’S LAMENT”. Arlene will receive a t-shirt (or other item from our fabulous catalog of BAPCPA Man and Bankruptcy Bill merchandise on Zazzle.  (Note:  Arlene is the wife of good-humored Long Island bankruptcy attorney Craig Robins, who also has an excellent song entry titled “DEBT-FREE GIRL”.)

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The Bankruptcy Song Submissions

Once again, here are the song entries for Bankruptcy Bill’s Bankruptcy Song Contest:

1.  “AMEND IT MY WAY” by Judge Sheri Bluebond (United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California)

2.  CABARET” by Judge Sheri Bluebond (United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California) (Click song title or scroll down the page to see lyrics.)

3.  “DON’T CRY FOR ME HOUSEHOLD FINANCE” by Judge Sheri Bluebond (United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California) 

4.  “DEBTS IN WRONG PLACES” by Judge Alan S. Trust (United States Bankruptcy Judge, Eastern District of New York)

5.  “‘TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE FILING” by Mark Sippel, Esq. (Sippel & Carroll PLLC (Kingman, AZ))

6.  “PHARAOH OBAMA – LET THE DEBTORS GO” by Mark Sippel, Esq. (Sippel & Carroll PLLC (Kingman, AZ))

7.  “THE BANKRUPTCY ABUSE SONG” by Mark Sippel, Esq. (Sippel & Carroll PLLC (Kingman, AZ))

8.  “DEBT-FREE GIRL” by Craig Robins, Esq. (Woodbury, NY)

9.  “BANKRUPTCY WIFE’S LAMENT” by Arlene Robins (Woodbury, NY)

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BONUS!

And if you just can’t get enough bankruptcy music, CLICK HERE to hear “Bankruptcy Lover“ by Bankruptcy Bill & The Fresh Starts.

Thanks to the Center for Responsible Lending for posting a great cartoon from Pixton.com that calls out the weakness of the arguments being made against the creation of a Consumer Finance Protection Agency.

BLT (Bankruptcy Lawyer Topics) is a periodic review and comparison of consumer bankruptcy topics being covered on bankruptcy lawyer blogs.

Holding a J.D. and an International Affairs M.A. from Marquette University, Matt Leichter (matt [dot] leichter [at] gmail [dot] com) is an attorney licensed in Wisconsin and New York.  He speaks Japanese and focuses on comparative and international law, as well as international business.

• Click on BK Lawyer Blogs for a state-by-state list of bankruptcy lawyers with their own blogs.
• Have a blog or know a good blog post you think should be included? Or a suggestion for a future BLT theme?  Send an e-mail to BLT [at] bankruptcybill [dot] us with the link.
• Suggestion to bankruptcy lawyers with blogs: Make sure to include a “Search” function somewhere on your blog.  It makes it easier to find topical posts on your blog and increases the likelihood that a post from your blog will be included in BLT.

(In reverse order!)

GENERAL

American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) Bankruptcy Blog Exchange

• Shortcomings of Credit CARD Act
• New Consumer Credit Card Rules Take Effect
• Eighty Percent Interest on a Credit Card
• ¡MORE!

Bankruptcy Law Network

• How Will The New Credit Card Laws Affect Me?
• Will New Credit Card Rules Cause a Spike in Bankruptcy?

CreditSlips.org

• Reflections on Credit CARD Act Day

Consumer Law & Policy Blog

• New Credit Card Law Effective Tomorrow (Monday, February 22)

WISCONSIN

Jamie Miller, Esq. (Miller & Miller, LLC) – Milwaukee Bankruptcy Attorney Blog (Milwaukee, WI)

• Soon You Will Really Know What It Really Takes to Pay Off Your Credit Card Debt

***SEE MORE BLOG POSTS FROM BANKRUPTCY LAWYERS AROUND THE U.S.*** (more…)